He has 1 year of RFA after this contract. Which couldn't be better honestly.

Exactly. He either gets locked up once his potential has been reached, or we can just let him go.

Theres also potential for another 1 year bridge contract. Im actually very surprised Tatar went for the 3 year

Pavel datsyuk is the best player in the world because he snatches the puck from unsuspecting players and follows it up by the simultaneous undressing of the defence pairing. The goalie then gives up, and flops like a fish. The end result is a calm skate back to his bench where he can bask in the praise of his multiple girlfriends from the motherland.

According to that Czech article someone posted in another thread his choices were 2, 3, and 5.

Well three puts him right into his prime, and if he were to get low-balled, he has an arbitrator to fall back on. I see the appeal of a 3 year deal. This signing is a solid one in my book as I think Tatar will turn out to be very consistent and solid for the team.

Got to think with the kids starting to mature that the power play will improve. Having a capable power play nets us like 35+ extra goals at least a year. Tatar, Sheahan and Jurco's numbers can only go up at this point ( assuming they stay relatively healthy)

The team has to stress the importance of having a consistent power play. It was one of our major causes for losing games last year.

This is a great signing. Only 101 players scored more goals than him last season (less than four per team), so he's in the top 33% or so of forwards in terms of goal production, yet his salary cap hit will be below the league average of around $3M. And in two years this will look even better, assuming (as I do) that he will continue to score in the 20- 25-goal range.

Got to think with the kids starting to mature that the power play will improve. Having a capable power play nets us like 35+ extra goals at least a year. Tatar, Sheahan and Jurco's numbers can only go up at this point ( assuming they stay relatively healthy)

The team has to stress the importance of having a consistent power play. It was one of our major causes for losing games last year.

We saw some good things from the PP in the 2nd half of the year. Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan should be a good 2nd PP unit, with Z-Dats-Franzen as #1. But it's still on the blueline we need improvement for our PP to become really dangerous. Need to see what Smith can do, and Sproul should get some looks during the year.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

I wouldn't be surprised to see Tatar finish with more goals than Nyquist. Although I love seeing Gus score more than any other red wing

We saw some good things from the PP in the 2nd half of the year. Tatar, Nyquist and Sheahan should be a good 2nd PP unit, with Z-Dats-Franzen as #1. But it's still on the blueline we need improvement for our PP to become really dangerous. Need to see what Smith can do, and Sproul should get some looks during the year.

Yeah defense always looked shakey. Entry into the zone was the biggest problem. I can deal with no shooters from the point but we can't spend the whole power play outside the attacking zone. Kills our momentum dead happened countless times last year

I wouldn't be surprised to see Tatar finish with more goals than Nyquist. Although I love seeing Gus score more than any other red wing

Yeah defense always looked shakey. Entry into the zone was the biggest problem. I can deal with no shooters from the point but we can't spend the whole power play outside the attacking zone. Kills our momentum dead happened countless times last year

I agree. But I'll blame a lot of that on not having pav and z in the lineup on a lot of nights. Those two are two of the best in the league at gaining entry into the zone

The more I look at the NHL and think about this deal, I like it more and more. A lot of us ***** about not getting the UFA or being on someone's trade list and in the same sentence we ***** about not having our kids on the roster. I am VERY guilty of this! But, this guy qualifies as a kid last time I checked, if we would've gotten Kesler or Iginla, etc... there would've been no room for this guy. I like our direction more and more each day as well. I am also glad we didn't trade him for a defenseman. I think the focus now should be the kids and building a new core. Unfortunately for Alfie there is only $5M+ left in cap space, if Danny D gets $4M of it (which I believe he will) there won't be any cash left for him. Unless he signs a $1M deal. I am not beating a dead horse here, but I would rather have Alfie here than Franzen. I sure wish there was a way to trade Franzen and just sign Alfie to a 1 year deal. That would not only rid us of that contract, but open the door even more next season to add the other kids that will be out of exemptions and deserve to be here. I also believe that Tatar at $2.75M is going to be far better than Franzen at $3.9M this season and beyond.

As of right now, without Danny D signed, the Wings have $15M in cap space next year, with Nyquist, Smith, Jurco and Pulkkinen to re-sign, along with whoever else will be brought up to the big club. This season the guys out of exemptions are marginal players (I would still hate to lose them) but next season, the likes of Jurco, Pulkkinen are guys that we CANNOT afford to lose for nothing. I still question a lot of things Holland has going on, and I still have very low opinions of Franzen, Kindl and Howard going forward with this team, but good thing is, better players are on the way!

Again, I like this signing more and more everyday, he is part of our future core (for now, Holland could still do something crazy! ) and I believe he will prove this to be a bargain deal once its all said and done.

Just imagine though, if he scores 25-30 this year, @ 2.75M, Holland could probably trade him to Coyotes for Yandle - straight up.

If he did that I don't know why you'd want to trade him though. A year from now you'd hope that Sproul would be on the team and contributing, along with one of either Marchenko and/or Ouellet.

The only way trading for Yandle makes sense is if it's this year...or if you are sending a left shooting top four (Smith) the other way. And if that was the case you could probably get him for something like Smith + Pulkkinen + pick and not lose a 25-30 goal scorer.

If Tatar scored 25-30 goals this season I'd consider trading him, but only for a top four who is under contract and shoots right. Someone like Shattenkirk.

Imagine is Tatar AND Nyquist BOTH get 25-30 goals this season! That would make Franzen VERY tradeable! Not that we'd get much in return, but if we got 50-60 goals from the two kids, Franzen could be dealt for a draft pick... I would definitely explore trades involving Franzen before the two kids... I still like him in Vancouver with the twins...

Not that this is a Franzen thread, but I'd just like to see the future if they are outperforming him. IF by the trade deadline both Nyquist and Tatar are on a pace for 25-30 goals and Jurco is also on a pace for 20+ that would be enough for me to trade Franzen. Especially if he is still floating around most games. He can still get 20 goals floating, I know, and that would still make him a fairly attractive piece to a club that may be able to re-ignite his career. Not that we need to trade him, but maybe if he was a piece of a deal that involved a defenseman...

Anyhow, I am excited to see Tatar and Nyquist here from day 1. I would even experiment with Tatar on the 1st line with Pav and Z.

Z - Pav - Tatar

Nyquist - Weiss - Franzen

Jurco (or Abby/Alfie) - Sheahan - Glendening

Miller- Helm - Abby (or Cleary)

Cleary/Andersson

I realize Jurco has exemptions left and will more than likely start the year in GR, so that means Abby could jump up or if Alfie returns and Cleary could be on the 4th slowing down Helm and Miller...but that is what we will have to deal with for at least 10 games...

Getting really excited for the season to begin. We had so much up in the air last season. Nobody really knew where we stood with the veterans and youngsters. Now we're set. Hard to believe these guys were rookies just last year and now they're big time impact players